A roof rail for a motor vehicle may be constructed in different manners according to the prior art. For instance, on the one hand, there are systems which are positioned flat on the roof of the motor vehicle and in which the lower side of a rack bar of the roof rail is positioned directly (or with a thin plastics film being interposed) on the vehicle roof or, on the other hand, systems in which the rack bar extends completely or predominantly with spacing from the vehicle roof. In the latter case, support elements which bring about this spacing are necessary. The roof rail according to the invention involves the last-mentioned case, that is to say, at least one rack bar which extends—over the length thereof—predominantly with spacing from the vehicle roof. Those systems according to the invention may also be referred to as “upright systems”.
In known upright systems, a majority of the extent of the lower side of the at least one rack bar retains a clearly visible, desired spacing from the vehicle roof, this spacing being produced by at least one support element which produces a non-positive-locking connection with respect to the motor vehicle. Such a support element is therefore visible and often reasonably heavy, that is to say, the weight of the roof rail is decisively influenced by the weight of the support element. Furthermore, such support elements are often provided with a cover in order, for example, to adapt a support element produced as a forged component to the visual appearance of the rack bar by means of the cover, that is to say, the cover has a surface which is adapted to the surface of the rack bar to the greatest possible extent. That adaptation is often unsatisfactory but better than using no cover at all because the forged component mentioned conveys a completely different visual impression from that of the rack bar which is particularly produced using the extrusion method. The known cover is often clip-fitted to the support element, that clip-fitting tending to loosen itself, for example, in the event of unfavorable application of forces.